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The Don's Broken Vow
The Don's Broken Vow
Penulis: Ding

Chapter 1

Penulis: Ding
For the one hundred and eleventh time, Alessandro missed our wedding rehearsal.

This time, it was because his ex, Francesca, had just won a defamation lawsuit against a gossip magazine. A seven‑figure settlement.

She threw a party at the Four Seasons. Penthouse suite. Open bar.

Two hours in, my driver Carlo sent me the first video.

Alessandro stood in the middle of the room, champagne in hand. All the family soldiers circled around him and Francesca as if she were already the Don’s wife.

Someone made a toast. Alessandro kissed Francesca. Full mouth. Tongue. His hands cupped her face like she was something precious.

The room cheered.

Francesca laughed against his lips. Her fingers curled into his shirt.

Then Alessandro picked her up and carried her toward the bedroom.

Before the door closed, I heard her voice.

“You’ve been so busy, baby. I missed you.”

“I’m here now.” His low laugh. “That’s all that matters.”

The door slammed.

Outside, I heard one of his men laugh. “She’s gonna be Mrs. De Luca eventually. We all know it.”

Mrs. De Luca.

I’d been his secret wife for four years. Nobody knew I existed. They all thought that bitch was the one.

I turned off the video. My stomach clenched. I ran to the bathroom and threw up nothing but bile.

I hadn’t eaten in four days.

I had no tears left. This thing had to end.

At 2 a.m., word came that the party was over. I stood at the gates of the De Luca compound, waiting with the documents I’d prepared.

The armored SUV rolled up slowly. Black. Bulletproof. Alessandro’s silhouette behind the wheel.

He got out. Jacket gone. Shirt untucked. Lipstick on his collar.

In the passenger seat, Francesca was curled up like a cat, her dress hiked up to her thighs, bruises blooming on her skin.

She was asleep. Smiling.

“She had too much to celebrate,” Alessandro said when he saw me. Like it was nothing.

“Should I have a maid take her inside?” I asked.

“No. I’ll drop her at her place after.”

Such a gentleman.

I remembered a night three years ago.

A rival family ambushed us at a restaurant. A bullet came toward Alessandro. I stepped in front of him without thinking.

It hit my rib. Shattered bone. Blood soaked my dress.

After the paramedics came, Alessandro looked at me with cold disgust and said, “You got blood all over my car interior. Pay for the cleaning.”

That night, he made me walk home. Two miles in heels. Bleeding through my bandages.

But tonight, drunk Francesca got to sleep peacefully in his passenger seat. Her vomit‑stained dress didn’t seem to bother him at all.

Funny how his rules only applied to me.

“Are you still coming to the wedding tomorrow?”

Alessandro hesitated. Then sighed. “Postpone it. Francesca’s too tired. She needs me to stay with her.”

“Postpone it until when?”

“Next month. Or the month after.” He turned to look at me. “What’s the difference?”

None. Because there was no wedding to postpone anymore.

I pulled the folded papers from my purse.

“Sign this.”

Alessandro took the envelope without looking. He pulled out a pen and scrawled his name on every line I’d marked.

“Done.” He handed it back. “I’ll have the chef make you lobster tomorrow. To make it up to you.”

Then he got back in the car and drove away.

The next time Alessandro came home, it was noon the following day.

He stood in front of the mirror, unbuttoning his shirt. Francesca’s perfume still on his skin.

Then he stopped.

He turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting mine in the reflection.

“What did I sign yesterday?”

I looked at him. Flat. Empty.

“You didn’t ask then. Why ask now?”

“Just curious.” He smiled. Cocky. “You’re my wife. What are you gonna do, ruin me?”

I lowered my eyes.

“Maybe I had you sign over the De Luca assets. Or maybe… divorce papers.”

Something flickered across Alessandro’s face.

He crossed the room fast and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up.

“Valentina.” His voice went low. Dangerous. “If you ever try to leave me…”

“What would you do?”

His thumb traced my jaw. Soft. Then harder.

“I’d lock you in the basement. Chain you to the wall. I’d never let you go.”

He smiled. Sweet and insane.

“Because you belong to me.”

“I wouldn’t dare leave you. If I really wanted to hurt you, it’d be the asset transfer.”

I smiled back.

He didn’t know I wasn’t joking.

What he signed wasn’t asset transfer papers.

It was the dissolution of our alliance.

And our divorce.

After four years, my marriage to Alessandro De Luca was finally over.
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  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 10

    “Alessandro De Luca is finished,” Michael said. His voice was tired.I put down the financial report. Leaned back in my chair.“Tell me.”“His empire collapsed three months after you left.”Not a surprise.The legitimate businesses I’d managed for Alessandro had supplied his criminal network with two billion a year in clean money.Without that, his empire was a corpse.“And then?”“He went paranoid. Started purging loyal men. Made insane decisions.”I pictured Alessandro alone in that big house. Going mad.“The killing blow was the gunfight last spring,” Michael continued. “The Chinese on the North Side wanted his docks. Normally, you negotiate.”“But?”“But Alessandro chose war.” Michael sighed. “He sent forty men to hit a Chinese warehouse. They walked into a trap.”“Casualties?”“Forty men. Not one came back.”I was silent.I knew some of those men. Carlo had almost been one of them. Thank God he came with me.“That defeat exposed the De Luca family’s weakness,” Michael went on. “Th

  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 9

    The night the decree was signed, Alessandro showed up at the gates of the Conti mansion.He was driving his black Maserati. Alone.The mansion guards tensed. Hands on their guns.“Let him in,” I said from the second‑floor balcony. “Him alone.”Alessandro walked slowly toward the front door. Under the moonlight, his face was ghost‑white.“Valentina.” He looked up at me. “I have an offer.”“Speak.”“I’ll give you half of the De Luca family’s assets in exchange for you coming back to me.”His voice was unnervingly clear in the night air.“The ports. The casinos. The real estate. Everything. Just come back.”I looked at him. A flicker of disgust.Now he wanted to give me things?“Let me ask you something, Alessandro.”He waited.“When you married me, did you ever love me? Even for one second?”He opened his mouth. Then looked away. “That doesn’t matter now.”“I thought so.”“Valentina—”“I don’t need you to give me anything. I just take what I want.”The color drained from his face.“What

  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 8

    Chicago Commerce Commission. 34th floor.At 8:55 a.m., Alessandro appeared at the conference room door.For the first time ever, he wasn’t late.Inside, the elders of both families were already seated.The six Conti elders sat on one side. The five De Luca elders on the other.I sat in my father’s old seat. Flipping through documents. Face blank.When Alessandro walked in, every eye turned to him.He looked terrible.Unshaven. Bloodshot eyes. Wrinkled suit. The once‑powerful Don now looked like a homeless man.“Valentina,” he said. His voice was barely there.I glanced up. Then back at my papers.“Please sit, Don De Luca,” Vincent said, gesturing to the chair across from me.Alessandro didn’t sit. He walked straight to me.“Valentina. I need to talk to you. Alone.”“There’s nothing to talk about. Please sit. Let’s begin.”“Wait.”Alessandro dropped to his knees in front of me.The room went silent.All the elders stared. The Don of the De Luca family. On his knees. In front of everyone

  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 7

    The front page of the Chicago Sun‑Times shook the city the next morning.MAFIA DON’S SECRET WIFE REVEALS ALLThe story ran with a photo of Alessandro proposing to Francesca in Miami.It detailed how he’d hidden his marriage for four years, flaunted his ex‑girlfriend in front of his wife, and broken every promise about their wedding.The most damaging part was the audio recording.Francesca’s voice from the Four Seasons: “That stupid bitch actually thinks he loves her. She was just a business deal.”The Commission’s reaction was immediate.The Vitale family was the first to act. They announced a suspension of all cooperation with the De Luca family.The Lombardi family followed. They withdrew support for the South Side docks.Even the normally neutral Romano family issued a statement questioning Alessandro’s leadership.Worst of all, the Chinese were circling.They smelled weakness.At the De Luca compound, Alessandro stood in the middle of the living room.He never drank at home. But t

  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 6

    Alessandro tried to say something. I was already at the door.“Valentina!” he roared behind me. “You can’t do this to me!”I didn’t look back.“Three days. Nine a.m. Chicago Commerce Commission.” My voice was ice. “The elders from both families will be there. We’ll dissolve our alliance formally.”“Don’t be late.”The door closed behind me. Alessandro’s shouts followed me down the hall.Carlo was already waiting in the car.“Back to the Conti mansion.”“Yes, Miss.”As the car pulled away, I watched the De Luca compound—my former home—shrink in the rearview mirror.Four years of marriage. Gone.At the Conti mansion, the family council was waiting.Six old men sat around my father’s mahogany table. Their faces were grim.“Valentina,” the lead elder, Vincent, stood up. “Are you sure about this?”“I’m sure.” I took my father’s seat. “Alessandro De Luca can no longer be trusted.”“But…” the second elder, Roberto, frowned. “This means war.”“Then it’s war.”The elders looked at each other. F

  • The Don's Broken Vow   Chapter 5

    Alessandro stared at the papers on the table.His face went slack.One hundred and twelve times I’d forgiven him. In his mind, that meant forever.“You’re joking,” he said. “If this is about Francesca again, there’s nothing to worry about. She’s just someone I fuck. You’re the one I love.”“Do I look like I’m joking?”He dropped to his knees. Grabbed my hands.“Valentina. I fucked up. I never should have let her disrespect you. I’ll make her disappear tomorrow. I swear.”Tears welled in his eyes. The Don of the De Luca family, crying on the floor like a child.“You’re everything to me. Without you, I’m nothing.”I looked at him and felt nothing.I’d seen this act one hundred and twelve times.Every betrayal. Then the same performance.“Alessandro. Get up.”“Not until you promise you won’t leave.”He hugged my legs.“I can change. I’ll change anything.”I pushed him away gently.“It’s too late.”Seeing the resolve in my eyes, Alessandro’s face changed.He stood up. The Don returned.“Yo

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